Maternity Leave
by CF-fanfiction
Summary: When Sonic signs up for a summer activities course, he never expects to end up stuck with a mechanical baby for three weeks... with Shadow as his partner. But what are the black hedgehog's real motives? Will Sonic survive long enough to find out?


**Chaos**: Ok everybody, before you judge me, let's make one thing straight… this is all Nam's fault! Blame her! BLAME HER! (runs in a random direction to escape the wrath of the reviewers)

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sonic leant over the paper on the wall, running a finger down the list of names.

Every summer, he, Tails, Amy and Cream – sometimes even Knuckles - would sign up for an activities course. It was random, and fun, and helped relieve the boredom of the rest periods – times in which Dr. Robotnik was sulking after yet another defeat.

Also, to add to the spirit of it, they had agreed never to quit mid-course, no matter what the subject was.

Last year Sonic had gotten a swimming course and Tails a mechanics course – highly unamusing. However, the year before, he had got a cooking course – chilidogs every single time – and Tails had gotten a sewing course (boredom in its purest form, he had said) so they were basically even.

Tails poked him in the back, just under his spines. "Hey, Sonic, what am I in?" he asked, trying to peer over the hedgehog's shoulder.

"Ah, here we go… hey, we're in the same class!" Sonic called back, spotting their names next to one another. Slowly, he ran his finger up to the top of the column, heightening the anticipation.

"What is it? What are we in for?" Tails asked, hopping from foot to foot. Sonic paused. He stared. For he had just read the Words of Doom!

"… Sonic? Is it… is it that bad? Tell me!" Tails pleaded, whirring his tails to try and look over Sonic's shoulder.

Sonic managed to stutter out the two words, feeling each one send a pang of icy despair through him.

"M-Maternal… Care."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

And that brings us up to the present. Tails is desperately trying to find a loophole in their rules, or some excuse for not going, and Sonic is trying to arrange to have the course mysteriously cancelled.

Of course neither of these _cunning_ plans work, and on the day the pair are forced to stand – in eternal shame – at the front of class, waiting to be paired as 'parents' with everybody else.

"Next; Miles 'Tails' Prower and-" The little fox gave a squawk of terror, tails whipping around nervously, "-Amy Rose."

Amy - who had almost passed out upon seeing Sonic arrive - drooped in obvious disappointment, moving to their desk and casting a longing glance towards Sonic, who couldn't help grinning in relief and suddenly finding the ceiling very interesting.

Then came his turn. "Sonic the Hedgehog and-" There was a long, tense, pause, "-Shadow the Hedgehog."

"WHAT!" Sonic screeched in disbelief – he had no idea that Shadow had even signed up for a course, let alone being assigned to this one. Truthfully, he would rather have been paired with Amy for the next five years than with _Shadow_.

But sure enough, Shadow emerged from the back of the crowd, giving off a _get-away-from-me_ vibe so strong that people parted to let him through. He was scowling bitterly, already resigned to his fate, and grabbed Sonic's wrist to drag him to their desk.

"But-but-but-but!" Sonic protested, dragging his feet along the floor in horror until Shadow pushed him at the right chair and stomped over to the left one, obviously in a very bad mood.

The teacher, a motherly coyote with a small pair of glasses, smiled pleasantly and finished sorting the couples. Then she spoke, "Now, this course is fairly simple. You will each be given your own dormitory on the campus," For the activities took place in a school that was closed for summer holidays, "-and will each be assigned a mechanical baby. Your task is to make sure that it stays healthy and happy for the next three weeks, and a prize will be awarded to the best couple."

Sonic, by this point, had started bashing his head on the desk repeatedly.

On the other side of the room, Amy was clasping her hands, looking enthralled, and Tails was smiling tightly to try and get into the spirit of it. Shadow, on the other hand, had completely disregarded the entire room and most especially the hedgehog sitting next to him.

As the teacher launched into further explanations of baby care, Sonic broke out of his self-harming activity and leaned over to whisper, "Hey, I just thought – which one of us is the mother?"

Shadow briefly considered knocking him out there and then and demanding another partner, but managed to control his temper and swung round to face away. Sonic sighed, slumping over the desk.

It was going to be a long three weeks.


End file.
